Locally Grown
Ten bright ideas that will bear fruit in Baltimore in 2011
Excerpt from Urbanite magazine, January 2011

Business

Corporations with a Cause

THE BIG IDEA: Businesses should be able to do more than just make money, or so say a growing number of entrepreneurs nationwide. Since 2007, the nonprofit B Lab, based outside of Philadelphia, has bestowed official B Corporation status on some 350 companies that are committed to advancing the greater good in areas such as health, the environment, and education. On October 1, Maryland became the first state to make these good deeds official: Businesses can now incorporate as benefit corporations, a legal classification that gives owners the power to invest in socially conscious causes, even if they detract from the company's bottom line.

THE BUZZ: Sean Smeeton's Taharka Brothers ice cream company isn't really about dessert. "The ice cream is really just a vehicle. We're in the business of social change," he says. Since 1999, Smeeton has employed young people from underserved Baltimore City neighborhoods and given them stock in the company; he also provides his employees with educational and leadership training through the nonprofit Sylvan Beach Foundation.

But before Taharka became a benefit corporation, Smeeton's business model was a risky one. To understand why, look at another enlightened ice cream company, Ben & Jerry's. After receiving a buy-out offer from the conglomerate Unilever in 2000, Ben, Jerry, and a group of investors put in a smaller counteroffer in an effort to maintain ownership and hold onto their socially conscious business model. Shareholders sued, and the owners were forced to sell.

Now that Taharka is a B Corporation, Smeeton is free to spend his money on job training—or to throw a green roof on top of the shop, for that matter. The new benefit corporation law, sponsored by State Senator Jamie Raskin of Montgomery County, protects Smeeton from being sued for actions that benefit society. At present, there are no tax breaks for B corporations, but advocates hope those will come—along with socially conscious investors. "This whole industry of social enterprise really had a hard time growing," says Smeeton, "but this type of corporation gives [us] that access [to capital]."

As of mid-November, Senator Raskin's office estimated that there were between twelve and twenty B corporations in Maryland. And the idea is spreading: In Ben & Jerry's home state, Vermont, companies can begin incorporating as B corporations this year, while at least four other states have introduced similar legislation.

BUZZKILL: The requirements to become a benefit corporation are incredibly lax. The amount companies spend on social causes is completely up to them, posing the risk that the designation could become just another meaningless label, like Earth-friendly or heart-healthy. Senator Raskin says there are checks against abuse, including certification by an independent third party like B Lab. Still, he adds, "I can foresee a time when perhaps more stringent criteria would have to be employed."

Money/Philanthropy

Only Time to Give

THE BIG IDEA: With the economy in shambles, nonprofits that are helping people survive the hard times are struggling to survive themselves. Nationally, nonprofits received $12 billion dollars less in donations in 2009 than they did the previous year, according to a 2010 report from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. But while people have less money to offer, they are giving more of their time; 1.6 million more people volunteered in 2009 than 2008, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. Baltimore was ranked 16th for the percentage of residents who do some volunteering (29.4 percent) and third for the amount of time volunteers give (48.3 hours per year).

THE BUZZ: Andrew Rose always asks work acquaintances one question: Where do you volunteer? “That means something to me—what they do in the community,” says Rose, director of marketing and business development for CPA firm Naden/Lean LLC in Timonium. He discovered, over the years, that many people want to volunteer, but don’t know how to get involved. So in 2010, Rose started Getting Involved in Volunteer Experiences (GIVE), a 10-month program that prepares eager professionals to volunteer with, sit on the boards of, or donate to local nonprofits.

Rose says that GIVE isn’t the only leadership program that funnels professionals into the nonprofit world, but others cost thousands of dollars and are geared towards upper management. GIVE costs $650 and targets young professionals like Emily Alt, 33, a lawyer and one of thirty graduates in the inaugural 2010 class. “There’s something to be said obviously for serving in a soup kitchen and doing food drives,” Alt says. “But something where you can actually use some of the skills you have professionally and give back to the community–I always thought that was the way to go.”

Alt and other classmates attended seminars organized around themes like child abuse, human services, and the environment; after learning about these issues, they met with nonprofit staff working to address them. Alt will serve on the GIVE advisory board with other graduates, helping chart the organization’s future.

BUZZKILL: Because of small budgets and limited resources, nonprofit employees can be stretched too thin to use volunteers effectively, says Kelly Hodge-Williams, executive director of Business Volunteers Unlimited, which manages the GIVE program and connects volunteers and businesses with nonprofits. But having a staff person or a volunteer leader whose job is to recruit, train, and manage volunteers is a huge asset. The local HIV/AIDS nonprofit Moveable Feast has this infrastructure at its weekly baking night. “They actually have a volunteer who is a lead coordinator,” Hodge-Williams says. “If you have a system in place...there can be tremendous value [in volunteering].”

Health/Education

Mending the Safety Net

THE BIG IDEA: Lower-class children are bombarded with obstacles to success, not the least of which are higher rates of asthma, poorer nutrition, and less than adequate access to medical care. “Kids aren’t going to learn and succeed in school if they aren’t feeling well,” says Dr. Gena O’Keefe, a senior associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Still, successful programs like the Harlem Children’s Zone suggest that these children can flourish if they’re surrounded with a safety net of services.

THE BUZZ: Last year, inspired by the Harlem project, the federal government issued grants to nonprofits and higher education institutions in twenty-one cities to fund “cradle to career” services for underserved kids. Baltimore didn’t receive any of this Promise Neighborhood funding, but the competition helped spur related efforts under way across the city.

In East Baltimore, the nonprofit Elev8 offers an array of health services and programs for middle schoolers at four East Baltimore elementary/middle schools. The program, a partnership among East Baltimore Development Inc., Baltimore Medical System, the Johns Hopkins Center for Adolescent Health, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, targets middle schoolers because they “tend not to go to the doctor as much because they don’t need immunizations,” says Dr. Karen Donaldson, who makes weekly visits to three of the schools. “There can be medical problems that are often undetected.”

This health component is anchored by on-site health centers and suites, which are available to all students. At Collington Square School, for example, the one-room nurse’s office was expanded into a three-room health center with a full-time nurse. A doctor visits weekly to give physicals, immunizations, and hearing and vision tests and to help manage chronic conditions. In classrooms at Collington, a nurse and mental health specialist lead workshops on hygiene, obesity, anger management, and goal-setting. This year, reproductive and sexual health education will be added to the curriculum. Children can also enroll in after-school, summer, and mentoring programs. Elsewhere in the city, the University of Maryland works closely with the Furman L. Templeton Elementary School to offer a parent education program, a learning center for young children, weekly visits from a Breath Mobile for students with asthma, and soon, medical services. The Center for Urban Families and Living Classrooms Foundation also offer similar services at public and charter schools.

BUZZKILL: While Elev8 and other groups have received funding and attention for their recent efforts, many schools have already been offering wraparound services with fewer resources. “Every school should have a full-time school nurse at a minimum,” says Nicole Johnson, executive director of the East Baltimore Education Initiative. “[Elev8] definitely feels like it needs to make that case ... [so] it’s proven on a local track record that these strategies work.”